60s Civil Rights 2024 Student Version PDF

BACKGROUND End of the Civil War & Reconstruction The Civil War ended in 1865 and slavery was abolished. The challenge of how to reunited the country and help millions of formally enslaved people make the transition to freedom remained. What follows the Civil War is a p...

BACKGROUND End of the Civil War & Reconstruction The Civil War ended in 1865 and slavery was abolished. The challenge of how to reunited the country and help millions of formally enslaved people make the transition to freedom remained. What follows the Civil War is a period known as RECONSTRUCTION. Part of Reconstruction was to help the former confederate states re-join the union. The other was to help African Americans get jobs, education and protect them from people and local governments who wanted to continue to exploit them and deny them equal rights KU KLUX KLAN White supremacist/ terrorist group formed after the Civil War who terrorized and intimidated African Americans in the south. The Klan is responsible for countless acts of violence in the post Civil War years and was one of the biggest resisters of the modern Civil Rights era. LYNCHINGS Mob violence against African Americans in which the victim would be executed, usually hanged from a tree. The NAACP estimates that close to 5000 African Americans were lynched in the south in the hundred year period between the end of the Civil War and the late The Reconstruction Amendments 13th amendment abolished slavery 14th amendment guarantees birthright citizenship = made freed slaves citizens of the U.S. 14th amendment also guarantees EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW, which will become the key argument in many Civil Rights cases 15th amendment said the right to vote couldn’t be denied based on race = gave African Americans the right to vote  JIM CROWE LAWS & BLACK CODES Jim Crow Laws were State and local segregation laws in the south which discriminated against African Americans. included the following restrictions: -forbade marriage between blacks and whites -separate schools, streetcars, waiting rooms, railroads, elevators, drinking fountains, public restrooms and other public facilities. Black Codes restricted where African Americans could work and how much they could earn. Children could be seized for labor purposes With many pro-segregationists working as judges and as police in the south, the legal system was stacked against African Americans  PLESSY v FERGUSON Court case which challenged segregated facilities on train cars. The 1896 Supreme Court ruling upheld segregation, saying it was constitutional as long as “separate but equal” facilities were Plessy would be offered. overturned by the 1955 Supreme Court ruling Brown v Board of Education, but in the meantime, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold segregation.  Racial violence in the south continued all after the Civil War into the 20th century. Examples include: RED SUMMER {1919} TULSA RACE MASSACRE {1921}  VOTER SUPPRESSION IN SOUTH Grandfather Clause said that a person can only vote if they had voted in previous elections {prior to 1867} or whose relatives had voted before. This would be impossible for African Americans who would not have had the right prior to the passage of the 15th amendment {passed in 1870} These laws were found unconstitutional by the Literacy Tests Supreme Court {in 1915} Academic test a person would have to pass before they could vote. The wording of the questions were such that it left the Poll Tax answer open for interpretation, so that the person grading the Charging a person a fee exam could pass a white voter but fail a black voter, even if they to vote. had the same answer. Violence or threat of violence against a person to Voter Intimidation prevent them from voting or registering to vote BACKGROUND: WORLD WAR 2  African Americans in World War 2 the experience of African American GIs during World War 2 contributed to the push for Civil Rights and equality in the U.S. after the war. Military offered job training and positions of responsibility it also provided opportunities to interact with people from different parts of their own country & of the world African American troops in Europe often experienced more tolerance and less discrimination when interacting with locals DOUBLE V for VICTORY CAMPAIGN World War 2 era civil rights campaign Double V= victory over fascism abroad and victory over discrimination at home Double V for Victory pointed out African American troops were fighting against fascism and anti- democratic forces in other parts of the world, but could not enjoy equality and democracy in their own country  Should I sacri ce my life to live half American? James Thompson’s letter to the Pittsburg Courier Like all true Americans, my greatest desire at this time, this crucial point of our history, is a desire for a complete victory over the forces of evil, which threaten our existence today. Behind that desire is also a desire to serve, this, my country, in the most advantageous way. Being an American of dark complexion and some 26 years, these questions ash through my mind: ‘Should I sacri ce my life to live half American?’ ‘Will things be better for the next generation in the peace to follow?’ ‘Would it be demanding too much to demand full citizenship rights in exchange for the sacri cing of my life? Is the kind of America I know worth defending? Will America be a true and pure democracy after this war? Will Colored Americans suffer still the indignities that have been heaped upon them in the past? These and other questions need answering; I want to know, and I believe every colored American, who is thinking, wants to know. fi fi fi fl EXECUTIVE ORDERS FDR {1941) Signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination in the defense industry TRUMAN {1948) signed an executive order desegregating the military PART 1 1954-1962  Emergence of the modern Civil Rights Movement 1954-1965 Challenged segregation & Discrimination in all parts of U.S., especially Jim Crow Laws in South “civil disobedience” = non-violent protests Media coverage Court cases that challenged segregation laws, discrimination in employment, housing, schooling, other areas  Emmett Till was a 14-year old Till was badly beaten and dis gured but his African American boy murdered in mother insisted on an open-casket funeral Mississippi. Till, originally from because she “wanted the world to see what Chicago, had spoken to white lady in they did to my boy.” a store. EMMETT TILL The two men seen abducting Till were The national press picked up the arrested and tried for his murder. story and Till became a symbol of The all-white jury found the pair not racial violence and a corrupt justice guilty in less than an hour. system in the south fi BROWN v BOARD OF ED & SCHOOL DESEGREGATION 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and Desegregation of Schools the Brown case challenged segregated schools Supreme Court ruled that segregation violates 14th amendment “equal protection clause” Brown overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson - previous supreme court case that upheld segregation = separate is NOT equal.Integration ordered for public schools and universities The case was argued by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) who fought and won many Civil Rights cases in this time period. The lead on the case was NAACP leader THURGOOD MARSHALL. Marshall would later go on to become a Supreme Court Justice.  Brown v. Board of Education and Desegregation of Schools After the Brown decision, the court ordered schools to integrate “with all deliberate speed.” some Southern states/ governors resisted integration and the Federal government will intervene to enforce desegregation. Despite southern resistance and the threat of violence, students enrolled. Someone had to be first of the first students to go to newly integrated schools, and the brave students in this first wave included: The Little Rock 9 - high school Ruby Bridges James Meredith- college (Central High School, Little Rock elementary school {University of Mississippi} Arkansas) MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT Dec 1956-Dec 1957  MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama successfully challenged segregation laws by refusing to ride on segregated busses. The boycott was sparked in 1955 by Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus. MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT In 1955 ROSA PARKS was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama when she refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus, as Alabama law required of African Americans. Parks, a member of the NAACP, was consciously challenging the law. Meanwhile, in a separate case, the NAACP was challenging the Alabama segregation law in the courts. MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT Volunteers and Civil rights organizations, including the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) led by Martin Luther King, helped organize a boycott of Montgomery City buses for African Americans, who made up a large part of the ridership and fares. The city lost revenue during the boycotts. Martin Luther King, who emerges as the main leader of the Montgomery bus boycott, is put in the national spotlight MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT Supporters of the boycott organized carpools and ran church buses so boycotters could get to work & school.  MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted around a year. U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Alabama segregation laws. Soon after, the boycott ended (after MLK was sure the new policy of integration would be enacted). *the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott inspired even more Civil Rights activism and challenges against segregation.* *it also modeled an approach for future civil rights action: litigation (challenging the laws in court) combined with civil disobedience/ non- violent protest* LITTLE ROCK 9 Sep 1957- May 1958  THE LITTLE ROCK NINE 9 students who were the first African Americans to attend the previously segregated Little Rock High School in Little Rock, Ak They were met with resistance from pro-segregationists and were only able to attend Central High after President Eisenhower sent Federal troops to enforce desegregation and protect the students.  Proclaiming that Arkansas would never segregate, the Governor of Arkansas called the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the Little Rock 9 from entering school Eisenhower met with the Arkansas governor who assured the President he would not prevent the students from entering the school. What he did instead was call off the National Guard, leaving the protection of the Little Rock 9 in the hands of the local police, knowing they would not be able to adequately protect them. As a result, the Little Rock 9 were not able to attend school A white mob prevents the Little Rock 9 from entering Central High School  Eisenhower sent members of the elite 101st Airborne to the task. Troops protected the students as they entered and left the school and to accompany them in between classes.  Students were verbally harassed and taunted but responded non-violently.  Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock 9, graduates and receives his diploma in May 1958. Green was the oldest of the Little Rock 9 and the rst African American to graduate from Central High in Little Rock. fi The CIVIL RIGHTS ACT of 1957  CIVIL RIGHTS ACT of 1957 Civil Rights law passed by Congress. It created a civil rights division in the U.S. Justice Department and gave the U.S. Attorney General more power to protect the voting rights of African Americans by strengthening the power of the Justice Department to prosecute people who engaged in voter intimidation and disenfranchisement The bill had bipartisan support in Congress, and of the President, Dwight D Eisenhower. The law, plus recent Supreme Court decisions, signaled that the Federal government was ready to take more action on President Eisenhower civil rights issues MLK meeting with members of Congress signing the bill LUNCH COUNTER SIT-INS {1960} Lunch Counter Sit-Ins Led by the SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) group of student activists, formed to train people in non-violent protest techniques. Main organizer was SNCC founding member Diane Nash SNCC trained activists in non-violent protest tactics Greensboro, NC First sit-in was held by four North Carolina state college freshmen who sat in at Woolworth’s Lunch Counter in Greensboro {February 1, 1960} The students sat there all day but were never served. They returned the next day, joined by 19 others By weekend – hundreds of students were participating in sit- ins across the city Lunch Counter Sit-Ins: Nashville sit-in protesters remained non-violent, even when the were attacked by violent mobs Many sit-in protesters were arrested. SNCC organized waves of new students to take the seats at the counter as students were being arrested meanwhile Nashville residents coordinated a BOYCOTT against chain stores that operated in the south and were segregated Diane Nash college student organized Sit-ins of segregated lunch counters in Nashville Tennessee. Founder/one of the leaders of SNCC, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Nash also helped support the Freedom Rides by selecting and training students to become some of the “Freedom Riders”= activists who challenged segregated bus facilities in the south FREEDOM RIDERS “Freedom Riders” were Civil rights activists who challenged segregated bus facilities in the south {1961}  Freedom Riders In 1960 Supreme Court ruled that busses, trains and airport terminals could not be serrated but some Southern states did not comply. An interracial group of CORE (Congress of Racial Activity) activists began organizing and riding buses across South. As Freedom Riders were arrested or injured, they were later joined by SNCC activists Freedom Riders (video) When buses reached Alabama and Mississippi they were met by violent mobs. In some places they were attacked and beaten, and one of the busses was firebombed (the Freedom Riders were able to escape). Many Freedom Riders were arrested by local police. Attorney General Robert F Kennedy ordered the Freedom Riders be escorted by Federal Marshalls, though they were not protected against arrest. PART 2 1963-1965 BIRMINGHAM {1963}  Birmingham was one of the most Birmingham, 1963 dangerous and racist cities in South Martin Luther King helps organize the protests police led by racist and violent police chief “Bull” Conner attacked protesters with fire hoses and dogs Many protestors were arrested, Birmingham jails were filled Martin Luther King was one of those arrested and endured particularly harsh conditions in jail. From prison he wrote “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” from prison. It is an explanation of the goals and tactics of the Civil Rights movement and said that people have a moral responsibility to challenge or even break unjust laws. Birmingham, 1963 Children’s March / Children’s Crusade thousands of school-age children got involved in the march. Many were arrested Students who were arrested as part of the Children’s Crusade were expelled from school. (Their expulsion would later be overturned by a Federal Court of Appeals) The event got international media coverage. Images and footage of the treatment of the protestors shocked and embarrassed the nation and gained a lot of support for the movement. Birmingham officials, who realized they could no longer ignore the movement, agreed to meet with Civil Rights leaders and desegregate businesses in Birmingham. They also released all the protestors from jail President Kennedy was moved by the events Birmingham to introduce Civil Rights legislation, which would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964  16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Tragically, a couple of weeks after the March on Washington, members of the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four young girls. MARCH ON WASHINGTON March on Washington SCLC, NAACP, SNCC, and CORE worked together to organize March on Washington in support of the proposed Civil Rights Act President Kennedy against march, tried to convince MLK to cancel protest March PEACEFULLY gathered 250,000+ MLK gave“I Have A Dream” Speech SELMA MARCH  Voter Registration Drives Voter suppression was rampant in the south. Only around 20% of African Americans who were eligible to vote were even registered. SNCC led classes & trainings to help register voters Freedom Summer of 1964 was massive movement to push registration and education The Selma to Montgomery March was a demonstration in favor of voter registration and against voter suppression Selma to Montgomery March 1965, Alabama MLK & SLCC ran a voter registration drive. As part of this demonstrators were going to march peacefully from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Marchers were met with violence by police who charged at the marchers on horseback they were beaten, attacked with fire hoses and by police dogs. Some were shot and killed This event known as “Bloody Sunday” gained national attention and press coverage President LBJ sends U.S. National Guard to Alabama to protect the protestors in the five-day march KEY CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION  CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 1964 proposed by JFK, initially resisted by Congress, pushed through by LBJ after JFK died The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The act ended segregation in places of public accommodation. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing. VOTING RIGHTS ACT 1965 Outlawed literacy tests Federal government would monitor areas where less than half the black population had registered to vote (to try to combat intimidation against African -Americans to vote 24th AMENDMENT outlawed Poll Taxes  LEGACY OF CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT  Brown v. Board of Education and Desegregation of Schools the Brown case challenged segregated schools Supreme Court ruled that segregation violates 14th amendment “equal protection clause” Brown overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson - previous supreme court case that upheld segregation = separate is NOT equal.Integration ordered for public schools and universities NAACP fought cases for integration for African Americans Schools ordered to integrate, but some southern states resist Little Rock Central High School integrated with the Little Rock 9 Ruby Bridges elementary school James Meredith, college Some Southern states/ governors resisted integration Federal government had to intervene MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT In 1955 ROSA PARKS was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama when she refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus Parks, a member of the NAACP, was consciously challenging the law Meanwhile, in a separate case, the NAACP was challenging the Alabama segregation law in the courts.. Volunteers and Civil rights organizations including Martin Luther King of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) helped organize a boycott of Montgomery City buses for African Americans, who made up a large part of the ridership and fares. The city lost revenue during the boycotts. Martin Luther King emerged as the main leader of the boycott and was put in the national spotlight Supporters of the boycott organized carpools, ran church buses and carpools so protesters could get to work & school. boycott lasted around a year, ends when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Alabama segregation laws.